Paul Best

Feature property: Hepburn Springs

5 & 6 Mineral Springs Crescent, Hepburn Springs

With the school holidays a week away, thoughts begin to turn once more to escaping the city bustle for a break up country or down the coast.

It's also the time many of us start thinking what it may be like to own our very own weekender, usually within a couple hours' drive of the city - perhaps a beach shack on the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas if we fancy something bayside, or a rural bolthole among the Macedon and Yarra Ranges or Victorian Gold Fields, if we prefer somewhere more bucolic.

While the weekender market has stagnated in recent years with little to no growth - prices in some high-end areas such as Sorrento and Portsea have dipped - there are encouraging signs it may pick up.

Weekend retreat: Kirsti Gigliotti and her partner Daniel escape to her Rosebud property twice a month.

Richard Wakelin of Wakelin Property Advisory believes the double-digit price growth in inner-city Melbourne is having "a mild ripple effect, as people think they're becoming wealthier" and seek to leverage the capital growth in their primary residence to buy a second home.

"Bush weekenders with character, personality and amenities in areas such as the Macedon and Dandenong Ranges offer better buying than coastal," Wakelin says.

Sea change: The property is located less than 500 metres from the beach.

Barry Plant's Mike McCarthy says the agency's coastal and country offices, too, are reporting slow recovery in prices after the weekender market was hit hard post-GFC. "There's still fantastic buying," he says.

With the opening of Peninsula Link and the Geelong Bypass, improved accessibility to the coast has helped, too, as has linking the Hume Highway and Northern Ring Road for the country. "It's opened up such areas as Healesville, Wallan, Kilmore and Broadford," says McCarthy.

"Since Christmas, there's been more volume," says Lorne agent Ian Stewart. "The next spur will be a firming of prices."

The most active buyers are sea and tree changers: retirees who, having sold the quarter-acre block in a leafy Melbourne pocket and downsized into an inner-city apartment, are looking for a getaway they can divide their time between.

"Middle-to-late age from the inner-north and bayside… selling up to diversify," confirms Jellis Craig Macedon Ranges agent Paul Keane.

While Fletchers Bellarine's James Gladman is also seeing most interest from retirees for properties "under $1 million", there's strong sentiment from young families looking to make longer weekends of it, especially with the ability to work remotely. "The biggest difference is that houses aren't used just a few times a year but maybe three days a week," says Gladman.

On the coast, the closer to the beach and shops a property, the more it is sought after. Similarly, in the hills and rural townships, properties within walking distance to cafe and shops fare best, as do bigger, low-maintenance blocks that aren't too heavily wooded.

Many owners rent their properties out to recoup some of the costs, such as upkeep and possible land tax. "Many find they can combine lifestyle and earn an income," says Gladman.

Short-term rentals, in particular over peak holidays periods, have become increasingly popular as they bring the highest return. A top house in Sorrento, for instance, can earn more than $7000 a week during the height of summer.

However, Wilson cautions buyers not to view weekenders as a long-term investment. Wakelin agrees (unless it has a water view or beach frontage): "Too many buy in an euphoric state (when they've been holidaying)…and not researching the market properly."

Great escapes: Popular weekend getaways

Macedon Ranges - Kyneton (1hr 5 min)

Median house price $395,000; price change over past year 12.9 per cent; annual change over past five years 59.6 per cent.

Mornington Peninsula - Rosebud (1hr 10 min)

Median house price $410,000; price change over past year 6.5 per cent; annual change over past five years 40.1 per cent.

Yarra-Dandenong Ranges - Healesville (1hr 00 min)

Median house price $390,000; price change over past year 5.4 per cent; annual change over past five years 30.0 per cent.

Bellarine Peninsula - Torquay (1hr 15 min)

Median house price (six months to April) $582,500; price change over past year 6.4 per cent; annual change over past five years 30.2 per cent.

Gold Fields - Bendigo (1hr 45 min)

Median house price $330,000; price change over past year 8.2 per cent; annual change over past five years 43.5 per cent.

Data represents all residential sales for the townships.

Case study: Coastal haven offers break from the city

"It's a different air down there," says Kirsti Gigliotti, who, with her husband Daniel, escapes the married couple's suburban digs in Greensborough twice a month for the coastal haven of Rosebud, on the Mornington Peninsula, where his family owns a four-bedroom weatherboard on Jetty Road.

"It's only an hour's drive coming from Melbourne," she says. "We can sit back, put our feet up and relax."

Daniel's mother bought the house last year, having previously sold a weekender the family had owned in Dromana.

"We needed something bigger," explains Ms Gigliotti, who says Rosebud was chosen because it offers better bang for your buck than either Dromana or Rye.

As well as the the extra room - there are also two bathrooms - the property is located less than 500 metres from the shops and beach.

"The place has everything we need and is walking distance to everything," she says.

While the Gigliottis, who occasionally share the accommodation with Daniel's brother and sister, use the beach house to take a complete break from the city, they have friends with a weekender a three-minute walk away.

"Even when you catch up with friends from Melbourne, it's just such a different atmosphere," Ms Gigiliotti says.

Feature Property:

The Daylesford owners originally built these architect-designed luxury twin villas in 2003 on the doorstep of the Hepburn Springs spa retreat for the sole purpose of running them as a bed and breakfast.

A popular weekender an hour and a half's drive from Melbourne that is booked out 80 per cent of the year, the property is now being strata-titled so that the twin two-storey timber villas can be either sold together or separately.

"You can buy one as a weekender for yourself, but it can just as easily be rented out," says local agent Paul Hill, of Lindsay Hill Real Estate. "There's so much demand and so little supply in Hepburn."

The two spacious, light-filled open-plan villas are practically identical, but each of them has been designed with their own personality. Number 5, known as Horizon, has a calmer, cosier feel, whereas number 6, called Saffron, has more of a carnival atmosphere.

Set on a secluded block full of wildlife, the villas provide comfortable self-contained accommodation - each with two king-sized bedrooms and spa, outdoor entertaining areas, modern facilities and off-street parking - perfect for a weekend escape.

At the same time, the villas are also close to amenities and popular tourist spots. In particular, the property backs onto the Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa complex and is a short walk to Hepburn village and Peppers Mineral Springs Retreat.

"It's an amazing opportunity as a boutique investment or weekender," says Hill. "You just close the doors and come back when you want."

All the creature comforts of your home in the city are on offer in this elevated architect-designed three-bedroom house with large open-plan living area, floor-to-ceiling glass, modern kitchen and double-sided Cheminees Philippe fireplace. There are sweeping views of rolling hills, bush tranquillity and 162,000 square metres of land divided into seven paddocks. Private sale

Agent Jellis Craig Macedon Ranges, 0419 330 571

31 Waverley Avenue, Lorne $795,000

Hidden among the treetops, this three-level cedar home offers all the pleasures of the bush, yet remains near some of the surf coast's best beaches. With four bedrooms, lower-level rumpus room for children and large outdoor entertainment deck, the property makes a perfect family weekend getaway. Private sale

Agent Great Ocean Road Real Estate, 0418 522 571

1 Manlangi Court Macedon $880,000-$930,000

Set on about a hectare, this stone and timber two-storey abode might feel like the perfect bush retreat were it not for the manicured lawns, which give the rustic feel of the property an urban elegance more readily found in Kew or Canterbury. For those fleeing the city for a weekend in the country, here they get to enjoy the best of both worlds.